10 stitches per inch...really?

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After someone here or elsewhere online recommended it,I purchased the book "The Perfect Stitch". This is in regards to hand quilting.

inside there is this quote

"Every quilter sets out to do 10 stitches per inch..."

Really? I'm curious how many of you actually can achieve this. Is it really the norm?

I am then comforted by another comment I saw here today..."There are no quilting police!" Thank goodness! I

I feel that my stitches are nice and neat and others have mentioned this as well. You cannot pull apart my seams very easily, and my quilting looks nice anyway. I never heard of,this rule before, so when I went back to the 2 quilts I have done, my stitches are more Ike 6 per inch maybe 7 . I typically use a back stitch simply because I think it is a stronger stitch. I'm sure this has something to do with my count, but how bad is it to be s far off from what's considered standard? YIKES, should I be ashamed to show my stuff to the people so know the rules?

Gini--my most important post of this morning got lost somewhere. I was replying to Quiltless's comment: Agnes, you have every right to be very pleased and proud of that work of art. I went into some detail on stitch count.. Okay, here I go again. I measured my stitches on the quilt, front side only, back side only. I come up with 5 stitches each side. Now read on how the quilt was scored. I achieved 22 out of 25. No way that would have happened if you count the top only.

First I will quote the information on the scoring sheet: Quilting 25 points Hand stitches small, even in length, same amount showing on front and back, 8 stitches per inch or more; thread ends hidden inside batt. Free from puckers and wrinkles on both sides of quilt. Point System: outstanding 25-23, Above Average: 22-19, Average: 18-13, Below Average: 13-0 The handwritten comment on the quilting is that "it is even in density. a little uneven in length."So in the judge's eyes I ham\d 10 stitches to the inch. It was also a poly batt that really isn't near as flat as a cotton batt would have been.

So just as in everything else to do with quilting there are no clear cut rules for hand quilting stitch count. Enjoy the journey. Only worry about RULES that are put out by the committee in charge if you are taking part in a juried show.

You could only double that if you were 84 years old and had quilted at least one double bed sized quilt per winter since you were 18. I knew the lady whom I am using as example. Her stitches were mere pin pricks because I counted them. I was just starting my hand quilting adventure and was the newbie. I had a woman jump under the frame to check my stitches. I was 52 at the time, the next youngest in this old fashioned quilting bee group was old enough to be my mother. I attended Teacher's College with her son.

Kris--Thank you. You would have loved the quilt that was the jumping off point. The center was a really large white section, all in one piece with ribbon and flowers applique. They then used a combination of the fans and Grandmother's Fans followed by another white border. Can't remember for sure but I think there was more applique. I started with the Star, designed a block to flow with Jacob's ladder and then went from there.

I had a woman jump under the frame to check my stitches. I was 52 at the time, the next youngest in this old fashioned quilting bee group was old enough to be my mother. I attended Teacher's College with her son.

Agnes - that's exactly how this book "The Perfect Stitch" starts!

The lady who wrote it appears to be a natural as she started stitching perfectly from the very beginning and had someone jump under the frame to inspect her work also!

Angele--Thank you. Just throw caution to the wind and follow your own drummer. Easier said than done. I have been told many times that I march to the beat of my own drummer.

Agnes it's not the caution that stop me as much as self confidence. I'm working on that and I find that the mystery quilts are teaching me to believe in me. I guess that at 54, I need to trust my likes more and not worry about what others think. Thanks for your kind words.

I' m realizing what. A crappy quilter I am, I thought you counted both sides. After second thought I think I will go with counting both sides so I can continue to Imagine I'm a better quilter than I am. With my memory, in a few days I will forget this conversation took place and I will be back to being a pretty good quilter. In my own mind, of course. : )

Gini, you are too funny. But you will forget how funny you are in a couple of days when you think you are a pretty good hand quilter! Hehehe!! :-D

Hello there ladies, I actually joined this club just to be able to offer my opinion from my heart.,thank you all in advance for sharing your pix's!! I am 54 and have been quilting since I was 7. I too believed that smaller stitches were better until I realized my hands aching during the weeks it took to finish a quilt weren't worth it. I couldn't quilt by machine because I love being with my family and sitting in my favorite chair with some form of sewing in process in my lap is pure happiness so I adapted my thought process from what I had been taught to what I could live with. I now get about 6-7 stitches per inch (you always count both sides) I use pearl cotton or floss to quilt (2 strands of floss) and a basting needle to make intentional long stitches. I have been doing this for 6 years now and to my surprise I continue to take 1st prize when I enter my work in competitions! The bonus is I can make projects in 1/2 the time and my hands no longer ache. Numerous baby quilts have survived with no diminishing and there are no designs I am unable to do! I agree that the size of your stitches really don't matter if you're going to compete, it is the consistency that judges prize more than anything! I share this not to be a "know it all" I share because this beautiful art can be intimidating and hopefully my thoughts can offer another perspective. Thank you for your time, please keep doing what all of you do very well!